Enter Lazarus
by scrittore.9
Summary: Phil Coulson almost died for what he believed in. The Avengers- and certain SHIELD agents- aren't amused. Set right after Christmas Countdown but can be read alone. SteveMaria
1. Chapter 1

"Merry Christmas, everyone," Phil Coulson said.

He moved out of the doorway, supported by a grim faced Maria Hill, but stayed there, as though not sure of his welcome.

The atmosphere in the room grew leaden, and there was an almost tangible moment where everyone in the room wanted to murder Fury. Tony was the first to recover, jumping up and going to shake Phil's hand. "Merry Christmas to you too, Agent Coulson."

"Phil," Pepper smiled, giving him a light hug. "Come in! Can I get you something to drink?"

Phil's polite refusal was followed by Steve, who shook his hand, then took his other arm. Hill flashed him a grateful look over Phil's head as some of his weight was taken from her arm. Gradually, the other Avengers ventured closer, until everyone but Natasha and Clint had acknowledged Phil. Steve and Hill were still supporting his arms, but he shook them off to look at the assassins, who were huddled together in the corner farthest from Phil. Their faces were impassive, but Steve got the distinct impression that they were holding hands behind their backs. Many guesses had been made as to how far back the history between the three went, the assassins and their handler, but Steve suspected that they hadn't even been close.

"Agent Hill, could I offer you some hot chocolate? In the kitchen?"

Hill smiled tightly, her own rage barely concealed. "That would be lovely, Captain Rogers."

"I think we'll join you," Pepper said firmly, getting a strong grip on Tony. The rest had caught on, and cleared out quickly.

There was absolute silence in the room for a few moments before Phil, now standing on his own, began to sway and grabbed for the edge of the couch.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "That doesn't even begin to cover it. I know. But for what it's worth, I'm so, so sorry."

Natasha stepped forward, her hand tightly interlocked with Clint's. Her fingertips ghosted over Coulson's face, her eyes showing none of the emotion she was feeling. Betrayal, sorrow, rage . . .Coulson had known that his 'death' would have negative impacts. This he had predicted. He turned around, trying to head for the kitchen, but staggered and fell. He tensed, waiting to hit the floor, but silently Natasha and Clint caught him, supporting him as Hill and Steve had done earlier.

The kitchen was full of hot chocolate and speculation, Banner's gentle rebuke of how it was none of their business ignored in favor of unraveling the spectacular drama playing out.

"I watched him die," Thor shuddered. " I do not understand how the Son of Coul remains alive."

"Neither do we, buddy," Tony muttered. "Unless, he didn't actually die. Fury used his death to pull us together, right? What if it was just one big act?"

"Do you know what happened?" Steve asked Maria quietly.

"I received a text this morning from Phil's phone," she replied, still radiating quiet anger. "I thought it was a horrible prank and went to investigate. I traced it all the way to a secret hospital room in the basement, where Phil was waiting. He said that he couldn't stay hidden any longer, that he was healed enough to go, and when I asked where, this is where he sent me."

"Jesus, Maria," Steve whispered. She inclined her head.

"I could kill Fury right now." Then Steve remembered that Phil was Maria's mentor, and he took her hand and squeezed it. She looked down at their joined hands for a long moment, then squeezed back, releasing a long sigh. "Merry Christmas to us," she muttered. "God damn, I need a strong drink."

"But then was he actually dead?" Tony still wanted to know, arguing with Thor and Bruce and Pepper.

"I was," Coulson said, and the kitchen froze. "For eight hours I was legally dead." Clint and Natasha deposited him in a chair before retreating again. He coughed, and Darcy handed him a cup of water. "I was in a coma for a month, and when I woke up, Fury told me what had happened.

"And the other four months?" Bruce wanted to know.

"For one of them, I was too weak to move. For the other three, I worked every day to get to where I am now." They all stared blankly at him, and Coulson sighed. Then slowly and still obviously painfully, he pulled his shirt up, revealing a long ragged scar on both the front and back of his torso. "Punctured my lung, ruptured my spleen, played musical chairs with a few other vital organs."

"Holy Thor," Darcy gasped, and Jane groaned.

"Darcy, that is _not_ going to become a thing."

"Yes," Darcy insisted. "This totally deserves a Holy Somebody or Other."

Coulson's lips quirked in a thin smile. "Your eloquence is ever charming, Miss Lewis."

"Just cause you came back from the dead, Agent Ipod stealer, doesn't mean I won't tase you," Darcy threatened, but she and Coulson were both grinning. Steve thought that was a very excellent thing, because all the Avengers wanted nothing more at the moment than to murder Fury. Slowly and painfully. Darcy's levity might keep them from doing anything rash, if only for today.

"Why did you wait so long to tell us?" Tony asked.

"For the first two months I couldn't, and then Fury wouldn't let me. Said that I had already died once, and he didn't want me to reverse team bonding by showing back up."

"Fuck," Clint said angrily, and stormed out. Natasha paused long enough in front of Coulson to flip him off before following. There was another long, awkward silence. Maria squeezed Steve's hand again.

"Son of Coul," Thor said. "It is an honor to once again welcome you as a Brother in Arms. I am most relieved that my own brother did not kill you."

"Why thank you, Thor," Coulson said. Pepper insisted that Coulson and Maria stay for lunch. Coulson nodded gratefully, but Maria bowed out, saying that she had her own Christmas to return to.

Leaving Coulson in the kitchen, surrounded by Pepper, Jane and Darcy fussing over him and Thor and Tony laughing, Maria left, followed by Steve.

"Are you okay?" He asked as they entered the elevator.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Furious at Fury- that's nothing new. Not particularly looking forward to getting back to my family."

"Yeah."

"Oh! I'm sorry, Steve. I forgot. It's just, they can be a little much sometimes."

"Don't I know," Steve sighed, casting his eyes upward towards where he was absolutely positive at least five of the Avengers were plotting some sort of vicious retribution against Fury. "I'm going to be playing policeman for the next year, trying to keep them from doing anything especially terrible or illegal to Fury."

"Why stop them?" Maria asked, eyes flashing. "He deserves it."

Steve shrugged, allowing her to step out of the elevator first.

"Can I walk you home again?"

"Please. I need as much sane adult company as I can get before going over to my step mother's house."

Steve held the front door for her, and they stepped out into the street together. "Tell me about your family," he prompted, and Maria grinned.


	2. Chapter 2

"Clint," Natasha said. "Clint."

"God damn, Tasha," Clint sighed. "After all that I can't decide who I feel more betrayed by."

"Coulson," Natasha said without hesitation. "Fury you expect it from."

"But he's alive. Now what?"

"It's Coulson."

"Yes."

"We take him back," Natasha said definitively. Clint nodded, though looked a little more wary.

Though they never ever discussed it, Natasha knew that Coulson had been to Clint what Clint had been to her. She never pushed for details, but she knew how strong of a bond had been born of Clint saving her, and assumed that the feelings were not specific to her. By that same logic, the betrayal that she felt must be intensified in Clint, knowing that the man who had saved him, who had been a better father to him than his own father, had for all intents and purposes abandoned him.

"Come here." Natasha opened her arms, and Clint stepped into them. She knew he was refraining from disappearing into the vents strictly for her benefit, and she appreciated it. "Clint, just because we're taking him back doesn't mean you have to until you're ready." Nevertheless, she felt the damp of a few tears on her shoulder and held him as he shuddered a great, rasping breath.

Coulson was being plied with coffee, lunch, cookies, and everything in-between in the kitchen. Darcy insisted that he was too skinny. Thor, Tony and Bruce watched their girlfriends, amused. Coulson was sure they were also plotting, and he sure was not going to dissuade them. The funny thing, he reflected, was that before his death, he had been an annoyance to most of them. Banner he did not even know. But the mutual respect they had maintained during his life had been solidified during his death, morphing into a strong loyalty to the man who had brought them all together. Damn politics, Coulson thought, smirking. As for Fury, he believed the phrase he was looking for was payback is a bitch.

By the time Steve returned, slipping unobtrusively back into the chaos that was life in Stark Tower, they had adjourned back to the living room and were watching a Christmas movie marathon. Clint and Natasha had rejoined the group, still keeping their distance from Coulson, and Natasha was sandwiched between Bruce and Jane. Clint was visible tense and jumpy, flinching at sudden movements. Steve sat at his feet, leaning back against his knees as next to him Darcy did the same to Bruce.

"Hiya Cap," she grinned. Steve returned the smile, and glanced up at Clint, who looked slightly less twitchy with the grounding pressure of Steve against his shins. Darcy followed his gaze and twisted her arm up to grasp Clint's hand. She gave him a mock stern glance, prompting Clint to crack a smile. Darcy nodded, and all was okay with the Avengers.

"You know, it has been kind of quiet lately," Jane remarked. "No DoomBots or aliens or any other nasties."

"Even evil geniuses take Christmas off," Tony quipped.

Sorry for the delay, guys. Christmas is finally over! I mean, darn, Christmas is over. Anyway, for the next week, aka until school starts again, updates should be fairly frequent. And in the meantime, Happy New Year! May you all make good choices and survive until 2013 :)


	3. Chapter 3

Christmas dinner was an interesting affair, with leftovers from the dinner the night before served. Steve surveyed the people who had become his family, including the newest addition of Coulson. Who, he had noticed, had not even attempted to approach the assassins yet. It was either his funeral or his salvation- Steve hadn't yet decided. He just knew the reconciliation had to occur soon. He didn't like his team split.

Tony felt the same tensions, but tried to smooth them over with humor, per his usual character. Steve may be the team's leader, but it was his tower, and he liked to keep his house in order. He was glad Coulson was back, though; as SHIELD agents went, Coulson was one of the very few he could stand. After Phil's death, Agents Hill and Sitwell had been switching off as the Avengers' handlers, and while both were good agents that he respected (covertly), there were just certain _thin_gs that made them wrong as handlers for the team. So, he offered Coulson a room in the tower, certain that his doing so would set things in motion.

It was the day after Christmas that Coulson made his move. The night before had ended rather earlier than expected once everyone had begun toasting the wide world with Tony's heavily spiked eggnog. As a result, no one thought about leaving their rooms until noon. Except for Coulson, whose pain medications did not allow him to drink. It was 10:00 AM when he knocked on Clint's door, knowing that he would be able to find both of his former agents there. He had seen their relationship before even they had, and had from the beginning accepted it as unavoidable. He would continue to accept it as long as it continued to not affect their work.

Clint came to the door, mostly dressed, in boxer shorts and a ratty t-shirt- one that Phil had bought him when they were posing as tourists in Brazil. Right then and there, he knew he was partially forgiven, and that was more than he had hoped for.

"Morning, Clint."

"Sir," Clint said carefully. "Can I help you?"

"I made my apologies yesterday, Clint."

"You did."

"I'm not rehashing them."

"I know." Slowly, Clint retreated from the door, allowing Coulson to enter while sending the message that he was not thrilled about Coulson entering. As expected, Natasha was waiting on the other side, and Clint placed her between himself and Coulson. He might have guessed. She was mad at his betrayal; Clint was wounded.

"You're forgiven," Natasha told him. Clint did not correct her, so Phil assumed she spoke for them both. "But you have lost our trust." Clint took the opportunity to shimmy up one of the ropes Tony had randomly hung from the ceiling, and perched on one of the steel beams.

"I will earn it back," Phil said decisively, and Natasha nodded.

"In time," she agreed. Phil cast a long look at the dark rafters as he left.

Since neither Natasha nor Clint emerged from their room when the rest of the Avengers stumbled into the kitchen, Steve was nominated to make omelets while Tony coaxed his overly expensive coffee machine to brew. Steve, surprisingly, made terrific omelets, though he couldn't cook anything else.

"Bruce," Tony mumbled. "If Katniss and Stalin don't appear in time for dinner, you're making curry."

"Good to know I'm wanted," Bruce muttered back. "Fine." Any other time, Darcy would have bounced around cheering for curry, but Hungover Darcy just pressed a sloppy kiss to the corner of Bruce's mouth- her aim was still suffering alcohol overindulgence.

"Damn, Stark," she moaned, taking a long slurp of her coffee. "What was in that eggnog?"

"Happy juice," Stark answered shiftily. Phil chose that moment to make his way into the kitchen, leaning heavily against the walls. Steve immediately went to help him, though not wanting to injure the man's pride, used the guise of asking what he wanted on his omelet. Phil was not for an instant fooled, but grateful nonetheless.


	4. Chapter 4

Clint and Natasha did emerge in time for dinner, and ended up helping Bruce make curry. Darcy, sufficiently sober now, did her happy curry dance on the kitchen table as Jane and Tony egged her on and Bruce sighed. As soon as she was done, though, he yanked her down and kissed her soundly. Tony wolf whistled, and Pepper smacked him upside the head.

"Bruce, have you given her the Santa's helper lingerie yet?" Tony asked, leering goodnaturedly at Darcy and dancing out of the way of Pepper's hand.

"No, Tony," Bruce sighed. "I have not. You got everyone too drunk last night. I was planning to tonight though, so way to ruin the surprise."

Tony's eyebrows shot up. "You actually were?"

Bruce gave him a look, cutting his eyes at Tony and raising an eyebrow. But Darcy had heard. "Really?" She asked seductively, pushing the peppers Bruce was cutting away and wrapping his arms around her. "Cause I could totally rock that."

The look on Bruce's face was priceless.

Maria Hill chose that moment to enter the kitchen, shrugging her coat off and rolling her shoulders, dislodging snowflakes and scattering some snow on the floor.

"Party foul!" Tony cried, now distracted from Bruce and Darcy glaring at the snow on the ground. Steve snatched the mop and traded it with Maria for her coat. She made a show of mopping up after herself, crossing her eyes at Stark as he turned away with a humph. Steve, who caught this gesture raised his eyebrows, and she sighed as she handed him the mop to put away.

"Too much family immaturity," she sighed.

Steve snorted. "If you wanted to get away from that, why did you come here?"

She grinned at him and sashayed over to where Coulson was sitting near Thor. Steve caught his breath, scolded himself not to watch her tantalizingly swaying ass, and joined them.

When Natasha announced that dinner was done, and everyone jumped up to serve themselves ("Agent Coulson, do you like garlic naan or plain?" "Garlic, thank you.") Maria smiled at Steve.

"Subtle," she said. "Thank you for taking care of him." But when Steve nodded and went to get dinner for himself and Coulson, she hovered awkwardly by the door.

"Hill. The curry's really good," Stark said, not missing her. "Even if you invited yourself . . ."

"Maria!" Pepper cut across Stark, managing to sound gracious. "It would be wonderful if you could stay for dinner."

"Thank you, Miss Potts," Maria said, matching Pepper's tone. "Mr. Stark, if it is that much of an imposition . . ."

"Nah," Tony mumbled around a mouthful of naan. "I'm just messing with you. You brought us Coulson. Plus you're the only single female Steve can handle talking to."

Steve spluttered, but Maria nudged him into silence, giving him a brief smile to signal that she didn't take offence from Tony's words. Later, though, she would deny all knowledge of how exactly the salt ended up in Stark's coffee.

After dinner, Jane and Thor began scrubbing pots. Darcy loaded the dishwasher, and did not complain at all when

"How domestic," Coulson remarked to Steve, quirking an eyebrow as Jane and Thor's bubble flicking fight expanded. Darcy certainly didn't mind joining, and even Maria was pulled in when Jane's handful of bubbles missed Darcy and landed directly on Maria's chest. Slowly she looked down at the bubbles, then back up at Jane, and the other woman actually looked a little afraid as a dangerous smile slowly crossed Maria's face.

"Those who cooked don't have to clean," Steve explained, "and those who cleaned up earlier for breakfast are exempt from dinner."

"How many shouting matches and fist fights did it take to work that one out?"

"Five," Steve answered, entirely straight faced, and Phil knew he wasn't really kidding.

"Right."

Maria joined them when the dishes were done (and the bubbles gone). She had random wet patches splattered across her sweater, and a few soapy bubbles lingered in her hair, which for once wasn't perfect, and her eyes sparkled. Steve was forcing his eyes away from her when the reason for her glee was revealed as she whipped her hands from behind her back and lobbed the last handful of bubbles at him.

"Wha . . ." Steve stuttered. "Maria!" But she grinned back, completely unabashed. His eyes caught hers, and slowly he reached up to brush the clump of bubbles from her hair. Something in her eyes changed, and Steve caught his breath. Coulson sighed and looked away, pretending to be absorbed in Thor and Darcy's conversation over Facebook, on which Thor now had more friends than Darcy.

Neither Steve nor Maria knew where that moment would have led to, only that it was shattered when Stark skidded into the kitchen.

"There's enough snow for a snowball fight!" He crowed, sprinting out again.

Darcy let out a whoop and followed him, screaming for Bruce to get his behind out of the lab because he was going to throw snowballs like a beast, goddamnit. Thor and Jane following. Clint and Natasha had removed themselves from the kitchen right after dinner, and though there was noticeably less tension- Clint had asked Phil to pass the naan during dinner- it was still there.

Phil cleared his throat, shifting awkwardly in his seat, and Steve finished tearing himself out of his focus on Maria.

"I guess I'll just go to my room now," he said.

"Agent Coulson, are you familiar with Stark's battle tactics?" Steve asked, squeezing Maria's shoulder as she began to protest that Phil didn't have to hide. "Because, believe me, we are going to need a referee."

"Yes," Phil said, letting more relief creep into his voice than he intended to. "I suppose I could be referee."

Steve was again rewarded by Maria's grateful smile as he stared at her over Coulson's head as he escorted the other man out, having offered up a warmer jacket.


	5. Chapter 5

Once the other inhabitants of Stark Tower realized that Phil didn't have his winter clothing with him (he was already in Stark's clothes, discreetly provided by Pepper, who had realized that Phil's belongings had been put into SHIELD storage, the fate of all the possessions of deceased single agents before they could be forwarded to remaining family) he was showered with scarves and hats and gloves. In the end, when he was wrapped thoroughly from head to toe so thickly that he couldn't even lower his arms, Darcy and Pepper stepped back to admire their handiwork.

There was a moment of incredulous silence as everyone stared at Phil.

"He looks like a really ugly snowman," Clint guffawed, leaning against Natasha for support as he laughed at Phil. Thor joined in the ridicule.

"It was rather inadvisable to allow yourself to become so ensconced in garments, Son of Coul," Thor grinned.

"But you're so stiff you can stand up on your own now," Tony pointed out rudely. He dodged the halfhearted slap Pepper aimed his way but caught Natasha's squarely in the head and ducked away rubbing the back of his head and shot her a rude hand gesture in response.

The concept of a snowball fight was explained to Thor as they all trooped down to the nearest park.

"So it is a battle of snow?"

"Yes."

"WHY DID WE NOT HAVE THESE MAGNIFICENT BATTLES ON ASGARD?!"

"That's an excellent question, Thor," Bruce sighed.

Farther back in the group, Maria and Steve were again supporting Coulson, who was regaling them with a story of his childhood snow fights, which seemed to have involved a small army of vicious children and large quantities of hot chocolate. To Steve's surprise, Maria added her own story, which involved structurally unsound snow forts and ambushes.

When they reached the park and Stark judged the terrain sufficient, Phil called them all to order.

"Alright, I want a fair game here," he said, cutting his eyes at Stark, who grinned wickedly. "No ice. No headshots. No serious bodily harm- blood, or anything ending in a trip to the hospital," he clarified as Clint opened his mouth to ask what _exactly _qualified as bodily harm. "Snow is the only weapon allowed. Each team will have 30 minutes to construct a base, and otherwise capture the flag rules are in. Tag outs with snowballs only! Now go."


	6. Chapter 6

Team picking was relatively easy- Steve and Tony were nominated captains and took turns picking. Steve took his team of Clint, Jane, Thor and Pepper and headed for the end of the park with the most trees. It wasn't a large park, bordered by streets, so he huddled them up, watching Tony from the corner of his eye. Tony, who had taken Natasha, Darcy, Bruce and Maria was doing the same.

"Okay, team," Steve said, gathering them close. "Clint, snipe from the trees, and you're in charge of defense. Jane and Pepper, you're with him. Whoever has better aim guard the flag and the other make sure Clint has enough snowballs." Clint and the women nodded and moved off. Thor stood shoulder to shoulder with Steve, maybe a bit more grim than he should have been. "Okay, thor, we're the offensive force. Thor," Steve said nervously, "you know this is a game, right?"

"Of course, Captain," Thor rumbled.

"And we will not be doing permanent damage to anyone or anything."

"I am aware."

"Just checking," Steve mumbled, going to see how preparations were coming for the defense.

On the opposite side, Tony was marshaling his own team. "Anyone who hurts Pepper's sleeping outside tonight," he threatened.

Maria rolled her eyes at him. "Stark! Defense! Banner, join him. Darcy, with me on offense, and Natasha, your call." She cast an eye critically over the other side of the park. "Barton will be in the trees, so watch for him, and knowing the Captain, Jane and Pepper will be on defense."

"Got them, boss lady," Darcy muttered, and Maria nodded appreciatively.

"Good. Natasha, you can take care of yourself and it'll be good to have a wild card, but watch Barton. The two of you know each other's moves too well." She looked back to where Stark and Bruce were making snowballs, Tony sulkily and Bruce resignedly.

"I'm trusting you two to defense," she told them, holding up a hand to curb Stark's protests. "Thor and the Captain are going to be on offense. Do you have this or do you need the help of the ladies?"

"Oh, we got this," Stark muttered, looking like Christmas had come early. "I still owe Thor for the Bilgesnipe incident."

Once Phil called for the game to begin, it progressed as may be expected from a group of people whose day job is saving the world. Violently. Phil's services as referee were called upon many times.

"Thor! He hit you! Go back!" and "Clint Barton, I said no head shots!"

"Sorry, Coulson," Barton called. "I slipped." Everyone knew that Hawkeye did not miss, but seeing as his 'badly aimed' shot had crossed the dividing line and hit Stark, Phil was pretty sure it was not entirely accidental.

The snowball capture the flag game took a turn when Maria flashed a signal over her shoulder to where she knew Natasha was lingering. The assassin slipped past Maria, and tapped Darcy as she disappeared behind a tree. Clint immediately sensed as Natasha crossed the line- she had purposefully let her red hair flash in the streetlight as she ducked behind a log, and he moved off stealthily through the trees, Pepper trying to keep up with her armful of snowballs. What ensued was an intense game of cat and mouse as Natasha convinced Clint that she was trying to sneak around the main defense to get the flag. Similarly, Darcy was distracting Jane. That left Maria wide open. She had snatched the flag, tugging the spare mitten in her pocket and fleeing back toward her side. Behind her, at their base, Jane had just discovered the missing flag and was hollering for Clint. Maria sighed, realizing that their strategy had been discovered, and sprinted a little faster. The line was just ahead and she was going to make it... Then Steve Rogers appeared in her periphery, sprinting toward her from her side of the line. She gritted her teeth and ran faster, though the snow was starting to tire her out. Just a little farther...

As soon as it had become known that Mariahad the flag, everyone had abandoned their posts to watch, though neither team was close enough to aid either Maria or Steve. He was right there as she was inches from the line, and as she threw herself across the line, he slid forward into a tackle. The result was a very heavy super soldier on top of Maria, who was panting for breath even as she thrust the mitten in her hand across the line, and lots of wolf whistles. An argument immediately broke out, and Phil came to investigate.

"He tackled her before she was over!" Clint howled.

"There wan no tackling in the rules," Natasha pointed out smugly. "She still hasn't been hit by a snowball so she's not out yet."

Maria heard this comment and glanced up at Steve with an ok get off look when she saw the glint in his eyes. "Steve," she said warningly. "Steve!"

He had scooped up a handful of snow, formed it into a passively spherical shape, and as her eyes widened, he dropped it on her face.

"STEVE!"


	7. Chapter 7

An hour later, after a free for all snowball fight resulting from Steve and Maria's spat and expanding from Clint dropping a snowball down Natasha's back to Darcy tackling Bruce into the snow, the soaked Avengers trooped back to the tower. Phil had pronounced Maria's team the winners.

"Jesus," Darcy yawned. "Is it really 11:00 already?"

"Only old ladies go to bed at 11 pm," Tony scoffed.

"And Hulks," Bruce said mildly.

"Count the assassins in," Natasha added. Tony opened his mouth to say something else which would undoubtedly be rude in some manner, but Pepper squeezed his hand.

"So does your girlfriend."

"Bed!" Tony exclaimed. "Sounds like a wonderful idea!"

Phil was walking between Bruce and Darcy, Bruce asking him questions about his medical state. He had examined Phil earlier, and wanted to be sure the man was still okay.

They reached the tower, and Maria stopped in the lobby. "Well, I should be heading home now," she sighed. "I had fun. Thank you everyone, for letting me join in."

Steve wordlessly turned to walk her home when Stark surprised them all. "Hill, it's late to go home, even for a deadly lady spy like you. There's plenty of extra rooms here."

Maria considered for a moment, and accepted.

Darcy ended up showing her to her room since Steve was bringing Phil to his room with Bruce's help.

"Good game today, boss lady," she grinned tiredly, gently elbowing Maria.

"Maria," she corrected.

"Well, Maria," Darcy drawled, "just so you know I am totally rooting for team you and Cap."

Maria was speechless as Darcy deposited her in front of a door. "Now, just in case you were wondering, this is Steve's floor, and his room is five doors down on the left." She ducked out, grinning.

**HEY! If you are reading this right now then stop and go read the story I just posted, The Aftermath. It kinda helps this story flow a tiny bit. Hindsight is 20/20, yeah? Anyway, apologies are in that one. SO GO READ IT!**


	8. Chapter 8

Darcy's hopes that night were dashed when the alarms blared throughout the tower a few hours later. Maria was up and aiming her gun at the door before she even registered where she was. As soon as she did, she quickly shimmied back into her jeans and tucked her gun in the waistband, smoothing her hair as she sprinted out the door. And straight into a fully suited Captain America, who was in fact five doors down on the left. There wasn't even time for apologies as he steadied her and they sprinted together down the hall.

They were the first to arrive in the kitchen, and Steve plugged in the coffee pot as Maria pulled out her phone and began speaking rapidly to one of her agents. The others hurried in not long after, Darcy pulling a robe over something that looked suspiciously like Santa lingerie.

"There are machines attacking Midtown, sir," JARVIS informed the kitchen, and a hologram image appeared in the air.

"Jesus," Steve muttered. "Alright, Avengers. Get your earwig on the way out. Coulson, go to the safe room with the ladies. There is surveillance equipment there, and if you could find a weak point on these things before we get there that would be great."

He turned and followed Thor out of the kitchen, a little surprised when Maria followed.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

"What . . . what am I doing?" She was stunned. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm coming to help!"

"But you're . . ."

"I'm what? Please, Captain, finish that sentence. I dare you." Maria's eyes were flashing dangerously, and Steve set his jaw. "Natasha fights, does she not? I am as capable as her, I assure you."

There was silence as they joined the other Avengers on the pavement, Tony already in the air, Clint riding piggyback so Tony could bring him to whichever building had the best tactical position. Bruce grimaced as he transformed, and the Other Guy roared, allowing Natasha and Maria to climb into his hands and Steve to perch on his shoulder as he lumbered off toward the sound of the chaos, Thor following.

Steve hated being worried before a battle, and normally he was. But something felt wrong about tonight. Even with the added advantage of Coulson, he hated Maria fighting. And it was dark. The Avengers had never fought together in the dark. Granted, it was New York City, so it was never pitch black, but from a tactical viewpoint it was a disadvantage for them.

And then they rounded the corner and saw the machines. There were four large hunks of metal, rounded pods sitting on top of solid looking legs. Steve saw no weak points.

"Go, Stark," he muttered into his com, and from above them, a missile soared toward the first machine. It bounced off, exploding in the air between the machine's legs and the ground. All it seemed to do was make the machines angry. They started firing white bolts of energy that left sizzling marks where they hit the pavement, and finally the top domes opened, releasing smaller robots that immediately swarmed down the sides and onto the street. Hulk roared, dumping his passengers and flinging himself at the machines. He latched onto one, climbing it, and smashing at the now closed metal dome on top. Nothing happened.

"Bastards," he heard Clint mutter into his com as the robots advanced. "Call it, Cap."

"Hawkeye, hold fire until you find a weak point."

"If there is one," came the snarky response. "Roger that, Cap."

"Romanoff, Hill, robots. And for godsake, don't die." The women nodded and moved toward the advancing robots. Steve watched as Maria pulled her gun from her waistband and closed his eyes momentarily. She was still in jeans, for chrissake. "Thor, Stark, with me." And with that, Captain America charged straight at the machines.

"Coulson, any day now," he muttered as he threw up his shield to deflect a beam headed straight at him. It bounced off and flew right back at the machine, creating a smoking hole where it hit.

"They can be hurt by their own weapons!" Stark cried gleefully. "I love when they get a taste of their own asshole medicine!" He circled the machine, putting a missile right in the hole that Steve had just created.

"Cover!" Steve shouted as it exploded. He heard a cry from behind him, and saw Natasha and Maria diving to the ground as shrapnel flew at them. His gut twisted. "Everyone alright?"

"Peachy keen," he heard the response, but didn't have time to think on it as the other machines roared and doubled their attack.

Maria and Natasha didn't train together as much as Natasha and Clint did, but they had been sparring partners several times, and knew how to telegraph their moves to each other. They had soon discovered that bullets did not work against the attacking robots, but knives in what constituted as the neck did.

"Hawkeye, neck joint," Natasha muttered.

"Got it, Nat," the archer replied, and a second later, an arrow quivered in the neck wires of the robot Natasha was grappling with.

"How many of these damn things are there?" Maria gasped, pulling her knife from a downed robot. There were three dead on the ground and ten more circling them. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Happy hunting, Lieutenant." Natasha's eyes were deadly as she sprang at a robot, wrapping her legs around its torso and twisting its arms together. Maria darted behind it and knifed it in the neck, swinging at another robot as that one dropped and Natasha sprang free. Behind them, another machine exploded, and Thor's battle cry joined the noise of the fight.

"They're headed for the transistors," Coulson's voice suddenly crackled over the coms. "They have access to the city's power from there."

"Damn," Tony sighed. "They're getting more creative in targets."

The final two machines were doing a wonderful job in avoiding the mistakes the first two had made shortly before their demise. Thor and Hulk decided to try the trick they had used on the alien whales, and Hulk had a large shard of metal to wedge into the machine's armor, but it was doing a wonderful job of not letting them get close, and all the while they moved closer to the transistors.

"Duck, Hill." An arrow sprouted out of a robot's face where Maria's head had just been, confusing it enough to let her get behind it.

"Thanks, Barton." But suddenly, the dying robot closed its hands around her arm, dragging her down with it. Its grasp tightened, and Maria gasped.

"It's already dead!" she heard Barton exclaim.

"Romanoff," she gasped as her vision faded in and out.

"Nat, it's shattering her arm," she heard Barton's worried voice. "I'll cover you, but you gotta get over there."

There was a sickening snap and then a grinding noise and Maria screamed.

Natasha hacked desperately at the wires connecting the hand to the arm, and finally it loosened, but the damage was done.

"Shit," Maria breathed, her face white. In her other hand, though, she hefted her knife as Clint warned them that he couldn't hold the robots off much longer.

"Good?" Natasha was clearly worried, but there was a battle to finish, and Maria forced herself to nod.

"Go."

There was another explosion behind them, and Maria swallowed her yelp as she threw herself to the ground, jarring her arm and feeling shrapnel embed itself into her back. Natasha's intake of breath to her left told her that the assassin hadn't avoided all the shrapnel either.

"Two to go," she told Natasha.

"One for both of us then," Natasha grinned.

They finished off the robots as there was another explosion and Hulk roared triumphantly.

"Coulson, Barton. Did we get everything?"

"Looks like it from here," Barton said. "Stark, any chance I could get off this rooftop?"

"Yeah, the stairs are to your left," Stark snarked, and Steve tuned out Clint's colorful language.

"You got it, Captain," Coulson's voice assured him, and Steve sighed. "What's the ETA for SHIELD cleanup?"

"Five minutes out."

"Roger that."

Steve turned, heading towards where Maria and Natasha were prowling over the sparking carcasses of the robots. He caught Maria's eye, hating that he saw the same wild adrenaline and fear that he had seen in Natasha's the day of the battle against the Chitauri. He had seen that look too many times in the eyes of his soldiers, and still believed that it didn't belong in the eyes of women.

There was a yell from behind them and Coulson's voice over the coms. Maria's eyes widened, and all she could do was launch herself at Steve and hope she wasn't too late. Her weight landed on him, forcing him down as there was a flash of light, and the world went black.


	9. Chapter 9

Steve staggered slightly under the sudden weight of Maria, but caught her, watching as Thor smashed his hammer into the remnant of machine that had fired.

"Double check the other ones," he said, and no one commented on his shaky voice. "Coulson, we need a med team. _Now_."

Stark and Clint landed a second later, and while Stark went to help Thor check the remaining pieces of machine, Clint and Natasha tried talking Bruce down.

"Bruce, listen to me!" Natasha cried. "Maria needs a doctor. She needs your help, Bruce. Please calm down!" Hulk grunted but shrunk into Bruce. Clint caught him as he staggered and handed him his pants.

"What happened?"

"Some kind of white energy bullet. Think Star Wars," Clint supplied helpfully as they reached Steve and Maria. He was pressing his hands to the wound, trying desperately to stop the blood from gushing out. Natasha placed her hand on his shoulder as Bruce knelt down.

"It's deep," he said grimly. "We can't do anything here but put pressure on it. Keep going, Steve."

"Coulson," he said desperately.

"They're on their way, Cap. Fast as they can. I swear."

The SHIELD teams descended on them after that, all grim black jumpsuits and dust masks. The med team pinpointed Maria and Steve instantly, and before he knew quite what was happening, they had pulled her from his arms and loaded her onto a gurney. Natasha caught Steve's eye. He looked more lost at that moment than he had when she had first seen him on the helicarrier, a man in a different time.

"Stark, you good to take care of things here?"

"Good," he replied, for once taking Natasha's none too subtle hint. "Go, Cap. I got this."

"I'll be monitoring you, Stark," Coulson assured them both, but Steve tuned out Tony's snarky comeback.

"In here, Cap." Natasha was tugging him toward a black SUV, the same one Clint was helping Bruce into. But Steve's eyes were on the crimson puddle at his feet, at the red staining his hands. "She'll be fine," Natasha promised, and so Steve followed.

Cleanup was unusually fast, with damage concentrated in a relatively small area. The craters in the street and masonry would be quickly repaired, and since the battle was at night, most had been asleep, and as a result there were few civilian casualties. He kept telling himself to focus on the good, rather than the fact that he had been sitting by Maria's hospital bed for two days, but it wasn't working.

Natasha had thick bandages on her arm and back from the shrapnel they had removed, nearly mirroring the ones on Maria, and she visited more often than the rest. Darcy was by often as well, chattering on to cheer him up, and when she brought Bruce there were moments that he smiled. But the thought of the woman who was laying unconscious and wounded on the bed because she had taken a bullet for him was a bit of a mood killer.

"Captain Rogers." Fury's voice broke Steve out of his thoughts. "How is she doing?"

"No change, sir," Steve replied, finding himself unable to look at the man. Though the concern he was showing for Maria was commendable, none of the Avengers had confronted Fury about Phil yet, and there was definitely tension. Fury's relationship with the Avengers had never been one full of trust, and to Steve, that had never been more evident.

"Doctors know when she'll wake up?"

"No, sir."

"If anything changes . . ."

"You'll be the first to know." Steve didn't often lie, but it slipped through his teeth, and once it was out, he didn't bother to correct it. Fury would not be the first to know, not from him, at any rate. Phil was resting at Stark Tower, hating the fact that he couldn't see his friend, Darcy and Bruce and Clint and Natasha- they were all worried about her as a person. Not as an agent. As soon as he finished that train of thought, however, the old one slipped right back on track. _If she dies, it's your fault_.


	10. Chapter 10

There was darkness, swirling around and around in Maria's head. It was though she was floating on a cloud. Ever since she was a girl, Maria had longed to touch the clouds. She remembered after her mother died, when her father had moved them to Seattle. There had been lots of clouds out the windows of the plane, soft and fluffy, and Maria stretched out her hand to touch them, imagining as she did that her mother could now touch those very same clouds. The darkness was a bit like lying on those clouds, and Maria longed to see her mother. But a face kept disturbing her thoughts, the anxious, handsome face of a man who wouldn't leave. He was pulling her back, keeping her from drifting off on the clouds, and Maria didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

"Nothing to report today, Lieutenant," he told her. He took her hand and she stared down at it, mystified at the sudden warmth she felt there. "Barton and Coulson have this tentative sort of truce, Darcy hid all of Bruce's pietri dishes and dragged him to a concert in the park- hippie stuff," he was obviously proud of his new term, and Maria smiled softly at his expression. "Pepper and Tony went to Malibu for an anniversary of some sort- either since she started working for him or since they started dating, heaven only knows- but Pepper made me swear to call her as soon as anything happens." He peered down at her. "Something will happen, right Maria? I mean, you will wake up eventually, right? You'll come back to us?" He pressed her hand to his lips. "Please come back."

_I will_, she wanted to reassure him. _I'm trying! _But the clouds were holding her down, dragging her back, and when she stopped struggling, gasping for breath, she couldn't help the tears that ran down her cheeks.

When the tears dried their salty paths stiffly onto her cheeks, she listened again and heard Steve singing softly. Admittedly, he couldn't sing as well as he could draw, but his voice was sweet, and she imagined them dancing. _When we begin the beguine, it brings back the sound of music so tender_. Steve twirled her, and she tipped her head back, laughing as her skirt spun around her_. It brings back a night of tropical splendor, it brings back the memory evergreen._ He pulled her close, and they revolved slowly on the spot, swaying to the music. _I'm with you once more under the stars, and down by the shore an orchestra's playing." _She could feel the warmth of his large hand on the small of her back and her arms twined around his neck. _And even the palms seem to be swaying, when they begin the beguine._ Their eyes locked, and he leaned down, eyes flickering closed, and Maria's heart raced with the impending kiss.

"Hiya, Cap!" Darcy bounded noisily into the room, ending Steve's singing and Maria's dreaming. "She still asleep then?"

"You know I would have called if anything changed." Steve was amused; Maria was annoyed. Though she often wished for more sleep, this was really not what she had in mind. She was ready to wake up, to tell Steve that she loved him- wait. What? Maria shook her head. She did not love Steve Rogers. He was a good man, a friend. One who she had taken a bullet for, the snide voice in the back of her mind commented, sounding remarkably and alarmingly like Stark. That was the other thing about the coma; she had been able to replay and overanalyze the battle, their argument beforehand, and Steve's stricken face as he caught her.

"She's perfect for you," Darcy was telling Steve. "I mean, she's the perfect mix of old fashioned conservative and modern badass lady spy. You like that she is more modest and refined like way back when, but you also respect her for her profession and intelligence. Can I be maid of honor?"

There was a long silence as Steve digested everything Darcy had just said, and Maria mentally slapped Darcy upside the head. She really wasn't helping. Or maybe she was.

"There's just one problem with your theory," Steve said dryly, and Maria raised an eyebrow. Just one? "It's that my perfect girl is currently in a coma." Darcy let out an exaggerated sigh. "Oh," Steve added as an afterthought, "I believe it is customary for the woman to pick her bridesmaids?"

"Oh Steve," Darcy grinned, pinching his cheek. "You're so adorable."

Maria had to agree, and not for the first time, she resented the clouds for holding her down. But as she looked down, her clouds were dissipating, disappearing into the darkness. Wait, Maria thought, right as the last wisps of cloud disappeared and a nauseating wave of pain hit her as she tumbled downward toward the darkness. Maria Hill had never been a girl to scream, but she did now as she tumbled into the abyss.

"Darcy call the doctors," Steve said desperately, and Darcy dashed to the door, wrenching it open.

"Help! We need a doctor in here now!"

"Maria, hang on! Please, please god hang on."

His hand was reaching out of the sky trying to catch her, but she was falling too fast, too far down. By the time the doctors elbowed their way into the room, the pinhole of light that remained at the top of the darkness was closing quickly, and Steve's anxious face was the last she saw.

"Hey, beautiful." Maria struggled to pry her eyes open. They wouldn't, god damn it, but finally they flickered open, and she saw Steve above her.

"I can't imagine better welcome back words," she croaked, and he grinned, though there was still tension in his face, and slid a few ice chips into a cup, helping her transfer them to her mouth.

"You had us all so worried," he told her, and though his tone was light there was a dark undercurrent. "I'm going to call the doctors to come look at you."

"Steve." He paused, standing from his chair. "Thank you."

"Thank me? For what? I'm the reason you're in here!"

"Thank you for staying. And believe me when I say that it is not your fault and never say that again."

He stared at her before going to the door to call the doctor.

Note- The song is Begin the Beguine by Cole Porter, and it is really a very beautiful song. There are so many terrific versions if you look it up on youtube (which you all should be doing) but my favorite is the version done by Michael Buble. Go watch it, you'll see what i mean.


	11. Chapter 11

Maria Hill moved into Stark Tower to recover two days after waking up. To her eternal surprise, Tony Stark himself supervised her move, pushing her wheelchair down the hall and alternating between dirty jokes and cracks about her lady spy skills. He was very curious if she could do the thigh choke like Natasha, which she assured him she could, but she favored the groin kick. He was more wary of her limbs after that, but to her chagrin, no quieter. Darcy and Jane tagged along behind, encouraging Tony with their own comments, and Maria felt compelled to ask Darcy, "Aren't you employed yet, Miss Lewis?"

"I thought we were Darcy and Maria," Darcy sulked. "But not really; I'm still the lab rats' babysitter, and I help Pepper deal with large crises when the need arises."

"If you're not, we could use you at SHIELD."

"Oh no," Stark broke in. "You don't get to recruit for SHIELD here. Besides, we're currently stealing you from them, so . . ." he let his voice trail off, and Maria saw what he was getting at. First Phil and then her.

"This is just going to be your room," Stark told Maria, pushing her through the doorway to the same room she had stayed in after the snowball fight. He left her by the door and walked over to the window. Maria half turned to Darcy, muttering, "Five doors down?"

"To the left," Darcy confirmed with an evil grin, and Maria groaned.

"Hill, can I do the underwear drawer?" Stark asked, leering at Maria. She rolled her eyes.

"You hot for chastity belts, Stark?"

"Spoil sport," he muttered, mussing her hair as he left. She shook her head, annoyed.

"We could definitely help you unpack if you want," Jane said. "And just a suggestion- keep your door locked and bribe JARVIS not to let Tony in. He gets drunk and goes on panty raids occasionally."

"I will keep that in mind, Dr. Foster. Thank you."

"Jane," the woman grinned. "But only if I can call you Maria."

Maria inclined her head, and Jane executed a graceful pirouette that made Maria and Darcy stare jealously.

"No," Darcy said firmly, grabbing Jane's shoulder and steering her toward the door. "I am officially not paid enough to deal with a ballet dancing astrophysicist." She paused at the door. "Do you want help unpacking?"

"Oh, no thanks. I got it." Maria was a little relieved at not having to find a polite excuse to keep them from helping her. She was a private person, and as much as she liked Darcy, the younger woman was not. She wheeled her chair over to the bed, where they had set her bag down and unzipped it. Then carefully, grasping the arms of her chair, she levered herself out of it, hating how weak she was. Her sense of balance was off as well with the thick layers of bandages, and she caught herself on the bed, ashamed that she was breathing heavily. Ignoring the voice in her head cautioning that what she was about to do was a bad idea, she took the small pile of shirts from the bag, looked at the distance between the bed and the open closet door, and took a deep breath. Then she pushed off the bed and tottered, unsupported, to the closet. When she made it, she collapsed against the doorframe, laying her shirts on the shelf and staring at the distance back. Normally, it would be about five steps, but right now it was like standing at one end zone and staring across the football field at the opposing one. She had just pushed off when a voice startled her.

"I don't think you're supposed to be doing that."

Maria flailed a bit, and he darted forward to catch her, but she regained her balance and glared to he retracted his hands.

"How will I recover if I don't push myself?"

"Rest?"

"I don't have time for that." She picked up the folded pile of pants from the bag and turned to repeat her walk.

"Can I take those for you?"

"No." She made it to the closet again, and was on her way back when her body swayed traitorously. "No," she muttered, but this time it was a reprimand to her body not to betray her. The edges of her vision were going fuzzy in protest as she took another tentative step, and blood was pounding in her ears. She heard Steve sigh and suddenly there was air under her feet before she was deposited gently on the edge of her bed.

"Breathe," he coached, retreating a bit, and she obeyed, trying to hold back unreasonable tears. Where were these coming from? She mentally scolded herself, willing the moisture to retreat back into her tear ducts.

"Please," she breathed, unintentionally voicing her internal struggle. Steve peered at her curiously.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said, even as a tear leaked down her cheek. He stared at her, mystified, and she couldn't help it anymore.

"Okay," he said, leaning forward and taking her into his arms anyway. "You know, I've seen you cry before, and it was worse than this." When she didn't respond, he let out a laugh that was more of a sigh and began humming to her. Suddenly she stiffened in his arms. "Maria?"

"That song," she sniffed, swiping angrily at her tears. "What is it called?"

"Begin the Beguine. Why?"

"You sang it to me when I was sleeping."

"I did. Wait, you heard that?"

"I caught snatches every once in a while, but I didn't remember til now. Like you forget a dream until something in real life reminds you of it. Steve, I remember that."

"Good." He was staring at her curiously. "Did you hear when Darcy came?"

Yes, she had. "No."

He shoved himself to his feet. "Well, can I help you finish unpacking?"

Maria stared at the closet and at her mostly empty bag. "Fine."

"Okay, then may I suggest you move your things to the bedside table? You don't have much, and it'll be easier for you to get to."

"Thanks." There was silence as he retrieved her shirts and pants from the closet and nestled them in the drawer of the bedside table. Then both of them remembered what exactly was left in the bag, and there was an awkward pause before he grabbed the bag and simply upended it over the empty space in the drawer. Her undergarments landed haphazardly in the bottom of the drawer, and he averted his eyes, his cheeks decidedly red. Then she surprised them both by laughing. He joined her.

"Well, since you've now seen my underwear and how weak I am, I can't really hide much more. Steve, we need to discuss whatever is between us."

He stared at her, face unreadable, then walked out the door.


	12. Chapter 12

Maria sat on her bed, trying to breathe. It hurt, creating an aching somewhere in the vague direction of her chest, and she closed her eyes. But heartbreak was something Maria was equipped to deal with. The people in her life that she cared for left her. Long ago she had accepted that fact, and as much as she had wanted to believe that Steve would never hurt her when she finally let him in, it had always been there. First her mother had died, then her father. Even Coulson had let her believe him dead, and now Steve. Maybe that was part of the reason she had taken that bullet for him. So she did what she always did, retreating into herself. By the time her breathing had slowed, she had straightened her spine and composed herself. She pushed herself up, making her way slowly around the bed to the drawer where her clothing now resided, and she arranged it all back in her bag. For a moment, pride warred with sense as she debated getting back into the wheelchair. But sense won, because she would not have made it very far without the chair.

She was at the elevator, refusing to let herself look back when Coulson saw her.

"Maria!" She froze. "I was just coming down to see you. Where are you going?"

"Back." Her tone was frosty, and he frowned.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." She slammed the side of her fist into the elevator button again. Coulson watched her wheel herself into the car as the doors slid open, but did not say anything else.

No one else stopped her on her way down, and she nodded to the receptionist, wheeling herself through the doors as a black SUV pulled in front of the tower. She was expecting the usual suits, but from the drivers seat climbed Agent Jasper Sitwell, the man who had taken over for her temporarily.

"When I called you for a ride, I didn't expect you to be giving me a ride."

"Yeah well. I needed to get out of the office for a bit."

"How's it going?"

"Jesus, Hill. I don't know how you do it."

"Honestly? Coffee and stubbornness."

He was tactful like Pepper, she thought as he courteously maneuvered her into the passenger seat, folding her wheelchair into the backseat.

Her return to SHIELD allowed her to fully immerse herself in her ice queen persona. Fury accepted her reinstatement with the provisions that she check in with the medics twice a day and share duties with Sitwell until they fully cleared her. Sitwell was fine with sharing, and it was nice to have a friend at SHIELD again. For the next week, Maria was mostly back to her normal schedule, and every night she forced herself to sit at her table at the back of the mess hall with her coffee and not think of Steve Rogers.

The doctors that Maria visited twice daily were knowledgeable, and whatever they had heard about her from the rest of SHIELD or knew from previous experience, they forgot, replacing it with something akin to hero worship for the woman who had taken a bullet for Captain America.

"Would it have killed him if it had hit him?" she asked one day.

"Probably not. But it would have been painful, and it would have taken him out of action for awhile."

"Hmm," Maria hummed thoughtfully.

"Lieutenant, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot," she muttered.

"Why didn't you just tell him to use his shield?"

The street corner flashed across Maria's mind, the smoking carcasses of the robots scattered around them, the twisted chunks of metal that had been the machines. Steve's shield glittered in the light of the street lamp where he had thrown it, half covered by the torso of a robot.

"He didn't have it."

"Okay. I meant no offence by it; we were all just wondering." Maria nodded, showing that she didn't mind the question, then hissed as Dr. Smith unwound the bandages around her middle where the bullet had hit her. Thankfully, since it was an energy bullet, there had been nothing to remove from the wound, but it had left a large hole on the left side of her abdomen. It had been partially cauterized due to the heat of the energy, but not enough that it didn't bleed messily. The result was what was shaping up to be an ugly scar just over Maria's hipbone. Dr. Smith swabbed antiseptic over it again and rewrapped it with clean bandages.

"Good news," the doctor gestured at Maria's shoulder, which she had just taken the bandages off of. "The shrapnel wounds are almost healed. You won't need bandages anymore, but try not to stretch the scars too much just yet."

"Have Agent Romanoff's healed yet?"

"They're about the same as yours if not a little more since she only had to work on those." The doctor peered at her. "Haven't you seen her lately?"

"No." Maria carefully tugged her shirt back down and stood. "Thank you. I'll see you again at 16:00."

"Actually," Dr. Smith said, standing also, "I'm telling Director Fury that you only need to come in once a day from now on."

Phil Coulson had quickly become part of life at Avengers Tower. As he recovered, he gradually joined the cleanup rotation, was integrated into team movie night and helped pull Tony, Bruce and Jane from the lab when the occasion hit. And he noticed the tension in the team. He had brought the Avengers together, and he was now tearing them apart.

"Steve." Coulson had cornered him in the gym. "Fix it." Steve stared at Coulson and Coulson stared back before Steve nodded once, and that was all they said about it. That done, Coulson went to find Clint and Natasha. Both assassins were in for the evening, and Coulson went straight to Clint's room.

"We need to talk," he said as soon as Clint answered the door. Clint took one look at his face and nodded.

"I'm going to start dinner." Natasha tactfully excused herself, kissing Clint's cheek on her way out the door and shooting Phil a warning look.

"Team's falling apart, Clint. It's more my fault than I would like, so here I am."

Silence.

"We need to work this out, Clint, before it kills someone."

"That's drastic," Clint said dryly, but sat down. "You get to start."

"Come on, Clint, think kindergarten sharing time," Phil sighed.

"Didn't go to kindergarten," Clint deadpanned. Phil raised an eyebrow; Clint stuck out his tongue.

"Like Vienna."

"Alright, well, I suppose it's irrational since you were in a coma and couldn't contact us, but you were dead, Phil, and you weren't supposed to leave."

"Like your father and brother." Clint neither confirmed nor denied this, but his stony expression told Phil he had guessed correctly.

"You know, sitting on the detention level in the helicarrier with that stab wound in my chest, I didn't think I was going to live. I told Fury that something had to bring the team together. I can't believe he took it as far as he did, though."

"We haven't done anything to Fury yet."

"No," Phil agreed, but he wasn't going to let Clint change the subject that easily. "I'm back, Clint. But you know better than most people that we can't promise anything."

"I know."

"Good talk."

"Yep."

And then they were alright, because that was how Phil Coulson rolled.


	13. Chapter 13

Steve Rogers had been trying to find Maria Hill for two days now, but for a woman just out of a wheelchair and injured, she was difficult to track down. And nearly impossible to sneak up on, even for super soldiers. So Steve gave up on the subtle approach, deciding to find her by making as much noise as possible. Currently, he was sitting at her table in the mess hall, watching the door and hoping she would come in. As soon as she did, he stood up and called across the room, "Maria!"

Maria Hill turned to look at him along with half the mess hall. Steve smiled his most charming smile even as her glare threatened to reduce him to a pile of ashes. "Over here!"

With that, she had no choice but to head over to his table, where he passed her the cup of coffee he had fetched her. Agents were visible staring, despite their stealth training, and obviously gossip was starting to circulate.

"You said we needed to talk?"

Her expression was stony, giving away absolutely nothing. "I have nothing to say to you, Captain Rogers."

Not prepared for the iciness of her words, he flinched slightly. "Maria . . ."

"Good day, Captain."

"Maria, wait!" He scrambled after her, pride be damned as she strode out of the mess hall and the stares of everyone inside followed them. Maria led him to her office, where they could at least argue privately.

"Have you lost your mind?!" she hissed at him the moment she had shut her door behind him. "What are you thinking? Are you even thinking?" The desk was the largest piece of furniture in the room, and she retreated behind it.

"Maybe I have lost my mind, Maria. Because I screwed up, and I hurt you and I'm so, so very sorry."

Maria's expression didn't change; she kept staring at the wall just to the left of his head.

"Look, you said you wanted to talk and I ran out on you. If I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't run, but you scared me so much when you almost died and then you wanted to talk and it terrified me. Look, the people I like leave me. Like my parents, like Bucky, and I couldn't bear if you had to go too."

There was silence in the small office, filled only by the soft sound of breathing as Maria stared at Steve and Steve stared at Maria. Then Steve was walking towards her, rounding the desk, and Maria was retreating until her back hit the wall and she stared at him with desperate eyes.

"Steve . . ."

"Maria," he breathed.

"Goddamn it, kiss me."

He complied, and she could feel his grin against her lips. When he kissed her, she felt his pain and sadness, but more than anything else, she could feel his hope. They broke apart, and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Well, we're a pretty fucked up pair."

A reprimand for her language was falling from his lips, but he swallowed it and laughed instead. "I suppose we are."

Maria took a deep breath. "I'm used to the people I care about leaving too, like my parents and Coulson. And then you walked out, and I couldn't handle it." The stare she leveled him with was defiant more than anything, but he stared back, his gaze completely free of judgment. "There. Now we're even."

Again he kissed her, and all other thoughts flew from her mind.

Maria went with Steve to dinner at Stark Tower that night. As soon as she walked in the door, she was enveloped in hugs from Darcy, Jane and Pepper, and so she completely missed the nod exchanged by Coulson and Steve. Natasha did not, as she slid up behind Maria and touched her shoulder. Natasha was not the hugging type, but Maria knew she was glad to see her back. Darcy was chattering excitedly about something or other, Clint waved at her from over by the stove, Tony made a weaker crack at her than normal, and Thor and Bruce pulled up a chair by where they were sitting for her to join them.

Maria's eyes met Steve's over Thor's head and Maria realized that she was happy.


	14. Chapter 14

One year later

"Steve, won't you just tell me where we're going?" Maria sighed.

"That's the point of a surprise," His breath tickled her neck, and she couldn't help the shiver that ran through her. Maria hated surprises, but it seemed that Darcy was in on this one, and when that woman got an idea in her head, it was incredibly difficult to change. Pair her with Steve on a mission, and Maria hadn't even tried to argue. That didn't mean she wasn't curious. Really, really curious.

Darcy had cornered her on her day off, convincing Maria to follow her. What had resulted in that was a blindfold and Maria being stuffed into some sort of dress by Darcy and Natasha. She could've taken Natasha, but she really didn't want to hurt Darcy (it didn't hurt that the woman's boyfriend was the Hulk). She rebelled a bit when they slid her feet into heels, but then Steve's voice was heard at the door, and she stilled, assuming this was part of his plan for their date.

Now, as he led her down a street in New York, she tried listening to determine where she was. There were the normal sounds of traffic- it was New York- and the flutter of pigeons and the swearing of drivers. People chattered to each other, and the last rays of spring sun filtered down through the buildings. For all that Maria was trying to determine her location, she was only remembering how much she loved New York.

"You have got to try this sometime," she sighed to Steve, leaning against his shoulder as he led her with an arm around her waist. Trust allowed her to relax, knowing that Steve would make the surprise an enjoyable one. All too soon it seemed he came to a halt, moving to untie her blindfold.

"What is it?" She peered at the row of storefronts in front of her.

"Come on." He took her hand and she followed as he led her through a door into-

"A 1940's club, Steve?" He looked anxiously at her face to see her reaction, and was relieved to see the grin on her face. Then she looked down at her garb and nearly doubled over laughing.

"The dress was Pepper's idea," he admitted, "and Darcy and Natasha kind of latched onto it."

"It's perfect, Steve," she assured him as a waiter led them to a table in the back. Her seat gave Maria a perfect view of the dance floor, and she was admittedly relieved to see that nearly all the women were in the same style of dress as her. Dinner was simple but good, and the look on Steve's face as he surveyed the décor and aura of the place was priceless.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked when they were done eating.

"I would love to," she replied. Neither of them really could dance, though Maria knew how to waltz and had enough grace and balance not to fall over whenever Steve got adventurous and tried to spin her. A few songs later, they were both flushed and grinning. And then their song came on.

"Steve!" Maria all but squealed, and his eyes were intense as they met hers.

_When they begin the beguine, it brings back the sound of music so tender, it brings back the night of tropical splendor, it brings back a memory evergreen._

_I'm with you once more under the stars, and down by the shore an orchestra's playing, and even the palms seem to be swaying, when the begin the beguine._

"I love you," Steve whispered to Maria as they swayed. She froze and stared at him. He looked back at her, confident in his feelings and yet waiting for her response.

"I love you too," she told him, the first time she had ever told him that, realizing just how long she had meant it for.

Steve twirled her, and she tipped her head back, laughing as her skirt spun around her_. To live it again is past all endeavor except when the tune clutches my heart._ He pulled her close, and they revolved slowly on the spot, swaying to the music. She could feel the warmth of his large hand on the small of her back and her arms twined around his neck. _And there we are swearing to love forever, and promising never, never to part._ Their eyes locked, and he leaned down, eyes flickering closed, and Maria's heart raced as his lips met hers.

* * *

Done! Yay for Steve and Maria! Cheesy? Yes. But hopefully decent as well. This is going to be my last story for awhile since sadly school starts up again tomorrow, so I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. A humongous thanks to all 6! of my reviewers; virtual cookies for all of you. Happy January, everyone


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